ABSTRACT

I would like to state from the beginning that I enjoy doing assessments. I am not sure whether or not we could postulate an archetype of curiosity as ubiquitous for all analysts, but in the course of my work, the frisson of anticipation is often heightened when seeing someone for an initial consultation. Patients’ anxiety about revealing their ‘story’ to a stranger, often for the very first time in their lives, cannot but infuse the atmosphere in the room with a special tension.